Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Watching the NBA

I'm watching the Spurs-Hornets on CCTV5 the Olympic Channel and am fascinated by the analytical nature of the Chinese commentary. They've commented on the Spurs' style of defense -- bodying up shooters, fouling those who drive into the lane -- the Hornets' young legs, their 3rd quarter dominance, the Spurs' experience... they're fond of calling San Antonio's players "those old guys," which is very accurate. The crowd noise is a bit muted, but otherwise the production is pretty good (actually, it's not possible to be bad... CCTV is getting the direct feed from TNT).

But the Chinese commentators in the studio -- what, no press row seats for China's No. 1 sports channel? -- are watching the game on laptops. Not even big laptops... medium-sized ones with Toyota and Reiz ads printed on the back. I'm not sure how much sound they're getting, either, because at least twice they've missed a foul call and proceeded with their commentating, a little confused why half the players on the court have stopped moving. Ah, but I nitpick. They really do a nice job.

And for the record, I think more Chinese fans like the Lakers than Rockets. They idolize Yao Ming, of course, but the Rockets have done diddily in the playoffs these last few years, and the Lakers have China's favorite non-Rockets player, Kobe Bryant. Comparisons with Michael Jordon are made all the time here.